Leon sat by the window, watching the streets below as Old Ferrun began to stir. The first rays of sunlight stretched over the buildings, casting long shadows over the worn cobblestone roads. The city was waking up, filling with the familiar sounds of merchants calling out prices, the rhythmic clanking of blacksmith hammers, and the murmurs of adventurers preparing for the day ahead.
Gold dictated everything here.
Without money, an adventurer had no future.
Weapons, armor, potions—nothing came cheap. Fighters needed resources to survive, and without enough coin, progression was impossible.
Leon had lived that reality before. Every piece of equipment, every repair, every enhancement came at a price. Low-ranked adventurers struggled, forced to rely on secondhand gear while stronger fighters secured the best weapons available.
His gaze moved across the marketplace below, taking in the familiar sight of the morning trade. Basic steel swords rested on racks, lined up beside stacks of worn armor pieces. Adventurers, mostly lower-ranked, hovered near the stalls, inspecting blades, weighing their options, their hands tightening around coin pouches that were barely filled. These were the supplies that fighters at his level could afford—functional, but nothing special.
The real value lay in the crystal cores.
They were displayed separately, housed in protective glass cases near the center of the marketplace. Some glowed faintly, pulsating with energy, their colors ranging from the weakest F-rank cores to the rarer B-rank varieties. Cores were everything to an adventurer.
Weapons without cores were just steel, basic tools that relied on the wielder's skill alone. But embedding a core into a weapon or a piece of armor turned it into something more.
Not all cores enhanced everything, though. A single core wouldn't make a blade unbreakable or grant unlimited power. They specialized, improving only certain aspects of a weapon or armor. A speed-enhancing core could make a sword lighter, allowing for faster strikes. A durability-based core could reinforce armor, making it more resistant to impact.
And then there were the skill cores.
These were rare, found only in B-rank and higher. Embedding them into weapons wasn't easy. The process required skill—if done incorrectly, the core would shatter, wasting its energy entirely. But when successful, the results were undeniable.
Swords that could unleash shockwaves, shields that absorbed impact, daggers that cut through enchanted barriers—each weapon became unique, tailored to the wielder's fighting style.
Leon had never owned one.
His previous life had been spent scraping by, earning just enough gold to repair his gear, never enough to invest in real upgrades. He had trained constantly, relied on raw skill, pushed his limits through battle. But without the right equipment, there was always a ceiling—a point where improvement slowed, where victory depended not just on strength but on resources.
This time, things would be different.
He exhaled slowly, shifting his focus inward, and the system responded immediately, unfolding before him.
[System Menu]
[Name: Leon Valtherin]
[Age: 16]
[Rank: F]
[Strength: 12]
[Speed: 14]
[Vitality: 10]
[Abilities: None]
[Skills: 3]
[Equipment: Basic E-rank Sword]
[Crystal Cores Collected: 0]
[Skill Points: 0]
[Gold: 32]
[Inventory: Empty]
[Quest Log: None]
Everything was neatly recorded, tracked with absolute precision.
His gold wasn't much—barely enough to buy cheap supplies, certainly nowhere near enough for core enhancements.
His sword, resting against the wall, wasn't anything impressive. The leather grip was frayed, the blade dulled, the metal barely holding its edge. E-rank, reinforced just enough with a low-grade core to make it slightly better than ordinary steel.
At least he wasn't starting empty-handed.
He shifted his focus again, bringing up the skills menu.
[Skill: Blade Focus]
[Rank: D]
[Type: Passive]
[Effect: Increases sword accuracy and reaction speed by 15%]
[Upgrade: Available (requires 10 skill points)]
[Skill: Quick Slash]
[Rank: D]
[Type: Active]
[Effect: Executes a rapid sword strike with a 10% increase in attack speed and a 5% boost in cutting power]
[Cooldown: 5 seconds]
[Upgrade: Available (requires 12 skill points)]
[Skill: Guard Counter]
[Rank: D]
[Type: Active]
[Effect: Blocking an attack grants a 20% boost in strength for the next strike, lasting 3 seconds]
[Cooldown: 8 seconds]
[Upgrade: Available (requires 15 skill points)]
Leon clenched his jaw slightly as he read through the details.
Normally, adventurers felt their improvement, testing techniques, refining movements through battle. The system was different. It assigned values to everything—structured, measured, controlled.
But the part that caught his attention most was the skill points section.
He didn't have any yet. But that meant eventually, he would.
He glanced back out the window, watching as an adventurer near the marketplace tested a sword, slicing through the air with careful precision. People learned through experience, through practice, through training.
Would the system allow him to improve just by fighting? Or was there another way?
His gaze moved through the menu, searching for answers. Near the bottom, slightly separated from the rest, was a tab labeled tutorial.
He exhaled slowly, staring at the text.
The system wasn't just tracking his stats—it was ready to teach him how to use them.